Back to the, Back to the UK: News round-up

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Harry’s Diamond Jubilee tour was too much to keep up with. My eyes barely left Twitter long enough to see to feeding myself much less blog – hence giving up after the Bahamas. I’m still digesting the awesomeness of Jamaica and Brazil. Perhaps I’ll post about those legs come July when it’s hot and news is dragging. As it is I’m still digging up stuff I missed at the time like this great photoset of Harry taking snapshots when he arrived in Brazil. I wonder how many of his personal snapshots include people taking snaps of him? Anyway, until I get nostalgic and decide to wallow in the PH-overdose of the tour, there are plenty of summaries online including the posts on Kelly’s blog. Worth a look.

The Fluff

So what’s happened since then? Lots of clubbing. Which is pretty hilarious since before he came back the tabs were trumpeting that his army bosses were banning him from bars and pubs. Hopefully no publican took that seriously and decided to torch his place for the insurance money in despair because mere hours after returning from South America, Hazza was at the Brompton Club chatting with Missy Percy in a stairwell.

For about 24 hours the press were tripping over themselves wondering who was the new blonde in his life. Understandable since he had just given Seth Doane the sad puppy dog eye treatment in his CBS interview (“I can’t find a girl! Oh noes!”.) But the interwebs kept trying to tell the press to calm themselves, it was only Melissa Percy, true BBB and girl of Tom Van Straubenzee. Duh. Oh, yeah also CHELSY’S BFF! This and the fact that Harry himself wasn’t smoking a cig in the photos were the most important bits to me. Whatever could Missy and Harry have been chatting about? Hmm. Perhaps…

HARRY AND CHELSEY BEING BACK TOGETHER. Maybe. Possibly. The Sun had this bit about his necklace and her blue topaz ring which some watchers say speak to their status and some say mean nothing. Pick your side. (Seriously. Pick a side. This is the type of thing royal fans can come to blows over.) But the Star must have been pleased with themselves as after their bejeweled predictions, more signs popped up: H & C at Princess Eugenie’s birthday party at Windsor on March 23rd (and apparently all over each other) and finally news that Chelsy and Blaise Patrick were no more (or perhaps never were.) Cleared for take off Capt. Wales!

Do I think they’re back together? Perhaps casually the way you do with exes. I think they will be a bonafide couple again before the year’s out but after he’s had his deployment and all the Jubilee craziness is over. Until then they’ll probably keep bumping into each other at parties and clubs, hiding in each other’s trunks, dressing up as the UPS guy with a package, whatever you do to keep on the DL when you’re that famous. Personally, I’m rather agnostic about Chelsy. I wouldn’t mind seeing Harry with a new, true love but that seems less and less likely. And who the hell am I anyway? Get on with it, you crazy kids.

Oh I said clubbing right? Yeah he’s being doing a lot of that this past few weeks. Photos from the above mentioned night at the Brompton, at the Embassy Mayfair the next week, and a week later indulging in a marathon night starting at the Sand’s End in Fulham before hitting Barts on Sloane Ave and winding up with a karaoke lock-in at Bunga Bunga. Phew. That exhausted me just typing it out.

We might get lucky and have a nice round of four weeks of post-party pics as he is reported to be taking another holiday. It seems he has taken a Wizz Air (yes, “wizz”) flight to Romania this morning. His father has property there so it makes sense. As long as it doesn’t turn out like his last Eastern European Vacation. Please Harry, just, no.

Finally, coming in last in the least significant Harry news category, he was seen at the Six Nations England vs. Ireland rugby match on March 16th. What was truly funny about this was all the tweets about Tom Inskip whenever the two of them popped up on the TV. One guy commented that Harry must be pals with Sideshow Bob. Poor Skippy.

The Stuff

Five-hundred plus words of frivolity aside, there has been some substantial news items since he came back from the tour:

Walking With the Wounded

As we speak this wonderful group of guys are halfway up Mount Everest. For quite awhile the rumors kept swirling that he would join them. But some journos reported that CH was saying no off the record. Also, a woman who’s also making the climb claimed via Twitter that she had been misquoted in the Telegraph saying he was expected to climb to base camp. Even with all that it just didn’t make sense considering the timing and danger factor. Although I’m sure he would’ve loved to have joined them.

He has supported this latest WWTW quest by helping them to kick it off back in February and also by sending them off with a toast at Heathrow last week. What a gent. Like their WWTW Facebook page or, even better, show your support with a donation. It’s also worth checking out the post by the lovely HRH A Petite Princess showcasing the letter they received from HM.

Moving on up

Max Foster was the first to report that Harry was indeed moving from Clarence House to Kenisngton Palace. At the moment he’s supposedly occupying a small, former servant’s apartment. But he’ll be moving into the Nottingham Cottage Will & Kate have been occupying while they wait for Princess Margaret’s old digs to be refurbished. It all makes sense – a little more room and independence for all involved. So it was extra annoying how many press pieces insisted they were moving in together. Granted, we don’t know where his temporary “royal bedsit” is but based on this map from the DM, when the final moves are made they won’t even be next door neighbors.

order of the garter

While he was still in South America there was the suggestion that he would be made a Knight of the Garter this year. William was knighted in 2008 and while there’s never really been a question that Harry would join the Most Noble Order it was more a matter of when. There can’t be a better time now that Harry has represented HM so ably abroad and that he has completed his Apache training. This is one of the few honors chosen personally, and solely, by HM, so nobody can say for sure yet whether his time has come. New Knights are announced on St. George’s Day, April 23rd so stay tuned. Learn more about this oldest British Order of Chivalry at the official British Monarchy website.

Documentaries and interviews

The beginning of 2012 has truly seen us blessed with a cornucopia of Harry goodness, so much so that I fear the rest of the year may be as parched as a Texan summer. *tears hit the keyboard* But instead let us review some of the best bits we’ve been given these past few weeks and take a second, or third, look at the following:

  • As mentioned above, Seth Doane got a great one-on-one interview with Harry in Brazil, serialized over three days on CBS This Morning.
  • Max Foster presented a brilliant doc for CNN, “The Royals: Harry the Solider Prince” viewable in three parts on CNN’s site. I believe Max will be producing more in this series on other members of the RF for the Jubilee.
  • Paul Harrison at Sky News used the Jubilee tour to give us “Harry: A Tour of Duty”. Unfortunately I’m not in the UK so I haven’t seen this but I hear it’s really good.
  • Finally, here’s a sweet little film from Channel 4′s First Cut, “Marrying Prince Harry” (UK only.) @HWalesWatch contributed a bit to this so I might be biased.

That’s a lot for roughly six weeks of Harry news, eh? If the rest of 2012 is like this, should be a banner year.

Bahamas: “Damn, you look smart.”

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I don’t know if there are home runs in cricket but in old fashioned American baseball when someone “knocks it out of the park” they are the boss. Day four of his tour for the Diamond Jubilee and Prince Harry is showing he is el jefe. The world’s coming around to what Harry fans have known all along – he is the Royal Family’s secret weapon.

Based on the warmth and rapport he displayed with children and on walkabouts in the Bahamas, many news outlets have been comparing him to Diana. This comparison is tiresome when it’s applied to, oh, Kate but with Harry it rings true. Not to slight William, who gets much love at HWW HQ, but Harry has inherited the best of his mother. She was magic with people. She dazzled them. And her youngest son appears to have that soulful touch as well.

On Harbour Island - courtesy of @heyimisabella

On Harbour Island - courtesy of @heyimisabella
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On Harbour Island - courtesy of @heyimisabella

Day 1

Harry and his entourage are lucky to have their private jet. Flying like a movie they were able to make a smooth entrance Saturday night, inspect some troops and be whisked off to their hotel while much of the hapless press crew (or their equipment) were left stranded in Miami. TSA, don’t you know these people are on a mission? But lucky for the far-flung reporters and photographers the visit wasn’t to fully get underway until the next morning.

Since he’s out on the road representing his grandmother, the Supreme Governor of the CoE, makes sense that H. stopped by church on Sunday. We got our first glimpses of a couple of things at this outing:

  1. His tropical white dress uniform
  2. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal
  3. And this tour’s answer to the bottle service girl, Miss Bahamas!

On the first… You know I’ve never been a fan of the dress uniform. Maybe it’s the tunic-y top or something, don’t know but I really prefer fatigues. It was a nice change of pace to see the crisp white though. Would it have hurt to do white pants too? Oh wait, there’s still polo to come. Ah, yes, much better. Love the white pants.

The medal: Harry got to debut it! Good for him! Nobody would’ve cared if Edward had been sporting it this week. (Sorry Eddie.)

And last but not least, poor Miss Bahamas (or Anastagia Pierre as she’s called when she’s at home.) She quickly learned what happens to any reasonably attractive woman to make casually admiring remarks about, meet the eyes of, visit the club next door to, or stand within 100 yards of Hazza. Within minutes of the press making this casual association you’re setting up your wedding registry! After cheesecaking it up for the photogs and telling the papers that Harry was “hot” and she’d marry him she then complained everyone blew everything out of proportion. No they didn’t. It’s called getting some press and you did a good job at it. But hey there are way worse things to try and grab some ink (pixels) over than gushing over Captain Wales. No hate for you, sister.

After church Harry slipped into his standard navy suit and did the ribbon cutting/teeny curtain bit opening the Queen’s Jubilee Exhibition at Rawson Square. There was a walkabout and gift giving. Harry got a (pretty good) portrait of himself. He got three paintings in the Bahamas. I look forward to seeing his gift list.

After this official bit he made a break neck trip to Harbour Island. Taking the formality down a further notch, Harry showed up in a navy blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt and dark pants. And still the desert boots which, turns out, aren’t the ubiquitous Clark’s brand but the more posh brand Russel and Bromley. And they aren’t even available in stores yet. Well, la di da, Henry. Daily Mail reporter Rebecca English who brought us the dirt on the boots tweeted that there was some indecision in his hotel that afternoon about whether to go fatigues or casual for this island hopping trip. Love fatigues but have to say he made preppy look pretty damn good so thumbs up.

This part of his trip was super short but created lots of good bits. The “go fast” boat he was on broke down on it’s way to the island and he had to slum it on the media boat. Then, once on the island he was given the royal tour by India Hicks.

Former bridesmaid to his mother and granddaughter of Earl Mountbatten, Ms. Hicks is a prominent interior designer and Bahamian. The Telegraph incorrectly stated that she runs a hotel. But twitter user @heyimisabella , who was kind enough to share her photos with us, clarified “this article says India Hicks runs my parents hotel. She did the interior design for it but she doesn’t run it.” Harry apparently had dinner with his mother’s old friend. Sounds like a nice private break in such a hectic trip.

Even though he was only there for about half an hour he went down gangbusters on the tiny island. Hundreds poured out to see him while he moseyed along on golf cart done up like a mardi gras float. Cute pics of him with little school kids too. Aww.

Day 2

His final Bahamas appearance happened Monday morning at Youth Rally at the National Stadium. Thousands of kids turned out like it was Bieber or One Direction concert. Rock star! And did he look the part. Seriously if someone said “cream linen suit” would you expect it to be worn as suavely as he wore it? And with those shades… *cue up “Prince Harry Swag”*. Kate better look out, he’s gaining on her. The quote in the title is from the speech he gave, telling the young ones they were pretty fly themselves. Confidence is important these days.

Sartorial wins aside, this was a great appearance as it really put on display how well he connects with young people. Apparently he left the podium o’ dignitaries and sat with the students. The story of this little girl, who apparently gave a better speech than him, is also heartwarming. Prince Harry makes friends with blind ‘student of the year’ at Bahamas youth rally.

What an awesome two days. The next two stops will really be a proving ground for Harry, though. As we know, Jamaica’s prime minister has suggested they leave the commonwealth and protestors have promised to disrupt his visit to Brazil. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I think he can handle it.

Links

Belize: “You’re stuck with me.”

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If the rest of the tour is anything like his first stop, I think it’s safe to say Prince Harry’s going to knock this one out of the park. Admittedly, a royal tour like this is a pretty soft sell. Local foods, cute chilluns, native music and pulling back teeny curtains to revel plaques — not much to mess up in that scenario. But nonetheless someone with sandy neither regions will always look to find fault with a royal in the midst of their oh so taxing 9-5 work. Harry of course is no exception. To that later. First, the good bits.

Day 1

The thankless royal press crew arrived in Belize over the course of a couple of days ahead of PH. Their early tweets found them wilting in the Texas winter weather (mid to high 80s F) like the dainty English roses they no doubt are. Already, I was envisioning Harry with a lovely sunburn the next time we spot him at the Arts Club (I hope Jaime L-P carries Coppertone for him.) Praise was high though for the little central American country from the advance press corps. Twitpics of exotic wildlife and food that probably wasn’t half as good coming out as it was going in were teasing us about the hectic 23 hours to come. One video report by Max Foster made me laugh as we saw the preparations for the street party to come But, hey, Belize only has 350,000 people! This was the place to see Harry. I think they were all at that party!

Before the big pachanga, though, Hazza had to make it there and apparently some fog had delayed his flight from Miami. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one staring at the crappy feed of Belizean tv with the dubbed over commentary by Love FM, waiting for his private jet to land. Oh, I was the only one? Well, uh, yeah, anyway he actually wasn’t late. Because that’s how cool he is, fog be damned.

After “de-planing” (hate that word) he was met by an armed honor guard and Belizean government officials. He stood on a dodgy platform and looked solemn while a band played “God Save the Queen.” He made a very-Harry cheeky one-off as he passed the press, “They’re not with me.” Top form.

Next time he was seen out was that night at the Belmopan Street Festival. He gave a speech, properly praising his grandmother and his host country, and apologizing to the crowd that she couldn’t make it herself. Instead he told them, “You’re stuck with me.” The rowdy crowd didn’t seem to mind though and Harry spoke extemporaneously, telling one side they needed to turn up the volume a bit in order to keep up with the other. So many stories commented on this off the cuff as “breaking protocol.” Come on… One of my few criticisms of Harry when he’s doing his public bits is that he relies so heavily on notes. He usually just manages a glance up every minute or two. Kind of makes you wish they’d at least give him a teleprompter. Speaking off the cuff is nice. The monarchy isn’t going to come crumbling down around everyone’s heads because he says a few words that aren’t written down for him.

After the speech there was a teeny curtain & plaque moment renaming the be-festivaled street after HM and then it was on the real point of the evening. (Not really, I think that was supposed to be the teeny curtain-moment.) Harry was escorted to a bar area where he sampled local beer (Belkin, on my list now), rum and a rum punch cocktail. So many drinks! But he HAD to! It’s his ROYAL DUTY TO DRINK ALL THE DRINKS! He is so dutiful. Best royal evah. Now, I don’t have to tell you what comes after the drinking of all the rums. No, not falling in the pool. That’s after the drinking of all the vodkas. AFTER THE RUM, IT’S TIME FOR THE DANCING!

There are ladies out there who love to see Hazza dancing. I am not one of them. It makes me want to pat him on the head and say “such a cute boy,” but I don’t think boys like that. I would say “Please don’t dance in public, Harry,” but how could I deny the lovely women he did the “punta” with him a chance to hold back their laughter and all the press of the world the chance to make it sound like Harry was wearing a lampshade on his head? Dance on, Harry, dance on.

Day 2

Not much has come out yet about the early part of day two. Just a couple of shots from the Belize tourism people of Harry leaving his hotel an one of him meeting with children at the OAS Adjacency Zone. The big event of the day was a little jaunt up Mt. Castillo, one of the temples at the Xunantunich Mayan ruins. Gorgeous. Conspiracy-ish. Apparently the press weren’t allowed up there (except for Chris Jackson I guess who got a great shot of Harry cresting the top.) Is this because Harry, as an heir to the throne, was one of the privileged few who could access the great Mayan secrets? Like whether or not the world is due to end the 12th of this December? If they told him that kind of stuff, I hope he plans to share. My birthday is December 11th and I’d like to know if I should get “For F’s sake, I’m getting even older?”-level wasted or “Well that’s THAT then!”-level wasted. Important stuff. DM me, Spike.

The lovelies at the Belizean Tourism board – who did a bang up job at tweeting pics and original content throughout his visit – scored this interview with him post-temple Illuminati meeting.

Finally, some UK papers were being a little lazy methinks by constantly trotting out the “will Harry finally grow up this time?” schtick. I’m not going to beat my breast about this – “Oh noes, you’re all so MEAN to him! Not fair!” – because we’re all grown ups. Hazza has dug a hole from himself that, thanks to mental laziness and a tabloid culture, he’ll never fully escape. He’ll be an old crooked man, balder than his brother, and people will still be bringing up the Nazi costume. He knows this. Which is why he probably continues to fall into Croatian pools. Who does he have to impress? Those who care to pay more than a millisecond of attention to him know he’s grown up. Stacked up against all the other royals, he pulls his weight. Who cares if he still likes the odd tipple? Doesn’t make him a degenerate *goes for a sip of wine.*

But some writers are determined to make him out to be the Rush Limbaugh of the Royal family. One writer at the Daily Beast called his “They’re not with me” comment a gaffe despite the press it was directed to finding it a right laugh. I kind of think this guy was just wanting to get attention for his story. Mission accomplished, my friend! Meanwhile, representing the press from this side of the pond, CBS’s Charlie D’Agata says Harry “long ago shed the reputation as the party prince.” THANK YOU CHARLIE! You have won yourself a spot on my list of sweetheart journos. (Other spots occupied by @MaxFosterCNN and @RoyalReporter, if you’re wondering.)

So, yeah, stop making party prince jokes. Just makes you look lazy.

Oh, one last thing: I love What Kate Wore to pieces so will never pass up the chance to imitate. Harry’s sporting new Clark’s Desert boots this trip. That along with the new Rolex he started wearing last month (a gift for finishing training perhaps?) and the Mexican wedding shirt he wore last night (aka a Guayabera) and we’ve got Harry style news! About time. Our boy’s not always rocking that PHS despite being, well, PH.

Here are links to galleries and stories. People on the ground are posting tons of great candids as they happen. Check the twitter feed for links. I’m second-guessing how I use photos here, if at all, so I can’t be arsed to collect twitpics & yfrog posts right now. But they’re great. Go look for them.

Prince Harry’s Bling Jubilee Tour Stops

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Here are the stops on Prince Harry’s upcoming tour. This list will be updated when new information is released.


Belize

Friday, March 2

  • 4:25 p.m. CST arrives at Phillip Goldson International Airport near Belize City. He will receive a salute from the Belize Defense Force and meet with officials including Prime Minister Dean Barrow.
  • Meets with the Belize Governor General in the capital of Belmopan.
  • Attends the Belmopan Street Festival where Cohune Walk will be renamed in honor of Her Majesty. He will give a speech an is expected to leave by 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 3

  • Harry will meet with officials on the Belize side of the OAS adjacency Zone to support cultural exchange with its neighbor Guatemala.
  • He will then head to Xunantunich to meet with children from the Special Olympics and local craftswomen.
  • Harry will travel through the jungle to the Mayan ruins and climb the temple El Castillo. Maybe this will work in his favor if it turns out they’re right about the world ending this December.
  • While at the ruins he will watch performances by Deer Dancers as well as the Succotz Marching Band and have lunch with some children.
  • After lunch, he will present a special jubilee canoe to the Ruta Maya organization and toast it with a local brew.
  • By 1 p.m. Harry will head to Price Barracks at the BDF Headquarters to meet with the National Coast Guard and remaining members of the British Army training unit which was formerly based in Belize. He will lay a wreath in memory of British soldiers who have died while stationed there.
  • Roughly 24 hours after arriving, Prince Harry will leave Belize by 4 p.m. CST


Bahamas

Sunday, March 4

  • Attends mass at Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau at 11:30 a.m. EST.
  • After church, Harry will open the Queen’s Jubilee exhibition in Parliament Square at approx. 1:30 p.m. EST.

Monday, March 5

  • Harry will attend a “youth rally and cultural show” at the national stadium. Over 5,000 are expected to be in attendance.

During his Bahamas stop, Prince Harry will also be meeting with local government officials, inspect the Royal Bahamas Defence Force at Coral Harbour Base and visit Windermere Island, where his parents once holidayed.


Jamaica

Monday, March 5

Banner welcoming Prince Harry to the University of West Indies in Jamaica

Photo courtesy of @anniepaul

    • Arrives at Norman Manley International Airport at 5 p.m. EST where he will be greeted by a 21 gun salute from the Jamaica Defence Force.

    Tuesday, March 6

    • Harry will meet young athletes at the Usain Bolt Track at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus.
    • He will then visit the University’s law school where he will unveil a plaque and watch a moot trial.
    • After UWI, Harry will visit Bustamante Hospital for Children with the Governor General and his wife.
    • Lunch at Devon House with the prime minister. Prime Minister Portia Simpson has recently made news for suggesting Jamaica leave the Commonwealth.
    • After lunch Harry will unveil a Jubilee statue at Victoria Jubilee Hospital.
    • Closing the day he will meet separately with leaders of Jamaica’s two political parties and then serve as guest of honor at a State Dinner.

    Wednesday, March 7

    • Will visit troops at Up Park Camp and co-pilot a helicopter to William Knibb Memorial High School playing field.
    • The rest of the afternoon will consist of sightseeing with stops at Falmouth Pier, William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church and the Good Hope Great House.
    • That evening Harry will be treated to “Jamaica Night” at the Sandals Resort on Kokomo Island in Montego Bay. (!)

    Thursday, March 8

    • Leaves for Brazil from Sangster International Airport.

    Brazil

    Thursday, March 8 – Wednesday, March 14

    Harry’s Brazil stop is not part of the Jubilee tour (Brazil is not a member of the Commonwealth) but instead is in support of British trade. His last three days in Brazil will be for a private visit.